Age Discrimination Employees 40-years-old and older are protected from age discrimination in the workplace under federal and state law. Older employees are often perceived as less productive and more expensive than younger employees. As a result, sometimes even the most experienced and capable employees in a workplace can suffer age discrimination.
Older employees may be perceived less favorably in the workplace. And as a result, older employees may find themselves receiving disciplinary action, lower performance evaluations, or subject to "business decisions" like layoffs or reductions in force. But age discrimination can take many forms.
For older employees, age discrimination occurs in employment when older employees are treated differently. Age discrimination may motivate hiring decisions, disciplinary decisions, or termination decisions, and attitudes about age can influence perceptions of performance and conduct.
However age discrimination may reveal itself in the workplace, it is unlawful.
Any employee suspecting that his or her age has factored into an adverse employment decision should consider the possibility that the decision constitutes unlawful age discrimination and should contact an employment lawyer.
